Medical mess

In terms of finance, we force hundreds of thousands of Americans into bankruptcy each year because of medical bills. As my mother, who had decent health insurance, was one of the ones forced into medical bankruptcy, I am very aware of how bad the current system is. She lost her home, her savings and is now in a nursing home (where she at least gets decent health care -- her health is so poor now that she actually needs to be in a nursing home) She would have been in the nursing home years sooner if not for children paying her rent for a few years. Yet, she is one of the luckier ones. She had family to help her out. However, with our children still children, and my siblings with young families of their own, we know we may not be as fortunate if something were to happen to one of us that our insurance wouldn’t cover. Seeing my mother’s medical bills, I know that our assets (home, 401k etc) would go pretty quick. Other countries don't have this problem, yet we seem to be afraid to follow their lead. Why? Are we so worried about losing the freedom to die on the street and impoverish our loved ones or is there something else at play? Who would really lose, financially, if the public option came into play?

The health insurance companies are the problem, not the government. A real public option would open up competition and hopefully help the average American - maybe it would stop the bleeding of higher costs for small businesses forced to drop unaffordable health care plans for their employees. The government wants to increase competition, which usually in a capitalist society results in lower prices. Of course the insurance companies arefearful of this as this will cut into their profits.

Of course, part of this is the Democrat’s fault. A 500-1,000 page bill no one can wrap his arms around leads to many opportunities for those for want to keep the status quo to jump in and scare the public by filling in the blanks with made up stories about “death panels.” The real facts of reform are far too complicated for most lay people to read and understand but instead of letting the members of Congress explain or answer questions, they’ve allowed some of the most mob-like, hateful, ignorant, and self-centered people who show up to cause disruption make any civil discussion impossible. Exercising your constitutional right of free speech, right to dissent, to criticize, and to lay before the government grievances should not mean censoring the other side, but that is what seems to have happened.

Worse, they have let the Republicans come up with all sorts of claims as they try to defend the status quo in their own town halls. With a woman crying that her husband needs more care than she can provide, such as a therapist, to help her husband recover, or at least live a better life, the Republican Senator replies, to applause, that she should ask the neighbors for help because the government of the people should never be the one to help. Nothing for nothing Senator, but as nice as my neighbors are, if I had a traumatic injury like that woman's husband, I'd like to have professionally trained people, like doctors or therapists, help me out. Yeah, the neighbors would be down for watching the kids while my wife drove me to a doctor but I don't think they'd be able to perform the actual surgery.

Or, a better example, there is no way my brother, sister or I could have provided our mother with the therapy she needed after her stroke, plus the pacemaker for her heart, without going to med school first. And, if it weren't for medicare she would be dead several years now as we were sure not in the position to pay for her care out of pocket. Good thing she was 68 and not 58 when she had the stroke that ultimately put her in a nursing home.

For those who are worried about how it will be paid for: repeal the Bush tax cuts, the super wealthy have had enough breaks this century. Yes, there will be tough decisions and compromises, but reform is long overdue, unless you make $800,000 a day. The big problem is no one thinks something catastrophic will happen to their health. And when it does, it is too late. We deserve whatever health system we get.